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Pay it Forward

© Ami McKay

I don't normally plug movies, but I recently saw the film Pay it Forward and I feel that it should be mentioned in this column. The main characters include a single mother, her 11-year-old son and his 7th-grade Social Studies teacher. The film is heart wrenching and provocative. It could leave you soul searching for days.

The teacher, played by Kevin Spacey, gives his class the following assignment for the year, "Think of something that can change the world and then put it into ACTION." This creates quite a stir in the classroom and it starts Trevor, played by Haley Joel Osment, wondering if such a thing is truly possible. The plan that Trevor comes up with eventually causes many people to wonder the same thing...

Paying it Forward
The concept of 'paying it forward' is fairly simple. One person does some large act of kindness for three different people. In turn, each of the people then 'pay the kindness forward' by helping 3 more people. In this way, the kindness multiplies fairly quickly.

I won't go into further details of the movie here, but I will say that the film brilliantly follows Trevor's journey. I was left feeling as if the torch of 'paying it forward' had been handed off to every person in the theater.

Four Main Points
What can 'paying it forward' bring to your life?

#1 No expectations
If you embrace the spirit of 'paying it forward', then you are helping yourself to let go of certain expectations in your life. Your acts of kindness are not based on gaining recognition, favors, or material things for yourself. You are not expecting anything in return from the people you are helping. There is great freedom and love that will come to your life when you learn to act in this way. You are simply giving of yourself because you want to foster the concept of putting kindness into action.

#2 Trust
You might stop me here and say, "Wait, don't you still EXPECT the people you help to go out and help others?" To that I would answer, "No, I simply trust them to understand the concept and I have faith in the inner kindness of others." In other words, the idea of 'paying it forward' is not to demand that others take the movement forward, but rather to entrust them with the concept. Perhaps some people may never have the inner strength to try it themselves, but others may continue to 'pay it forward' for the rest of their lives.

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